Although the place where Flem Snopes' story begins is never given a name in this story, from many other sources we know that it is the area of Yoknapatawpha called Frenchman's Bend. In the Yoknapatawpha fictions as a group, "the Bend" is defined as the socio-economic and cultural opposite of both "the town," i.e. Jefferson, and the large plantations on the flat rich land to the north of town. Most of the inhabitants of Frenchman's Bend are small farmers and tenant farmers.
This man owned the other half of the "small back-street restaurant" in Jefferson that Flem Snopes acquired from Suratt (149). Soon after moving to town, Flem "eliminated" him, presumably by buying him out (150). In The Hamlet Suratt's partner is named Aaron Rideout, whereas in the The Town he's Grover Cleveland Winbush. Whether Faulkner had either in mind when he created this "partner" the first time in this story cannot be determined.
This icon represents the diverse group of human beings whom Ike McCaslin refers to as the "spawn" of the modern Delta, where the boundaries between races seem to have broken down. It includes "white men" who own plantations and "commute every night to Memphis," "black men" who own plantations and even towns and "keep their town houses in Chicago," and is an amalgamation of "Chinese and African and Aryan and Jew" who "breed" together (279).
The young woman in "Delta Autumn" identifies the man in the boat that takes her to the hunting camp as her "cousin," but beyond that the story provides no details about the aunt's "family" in Vicksburg with whom she has been staying (278). (In the revised version of the story that Faulkner published in Go Down, Moses, this family is part of the extended McCaslin-Beauchamp-Edmonds family, and so have their own entry in the database.)
All we know about the father of the young woman who has given birth to Don Boyd's child is that he lived in Indianapolis and died "two years ago" (278). (When Faulkner revised the story for inclusion in Go Down, Moses he made the young woman's family part of the extended McCaslin-Beauchamp-Edmonds family, and so although he made no changes in the way this father is described, radically re-positioned him in the larger Yoknapatawpha narrative; for that reason we have a separate entry for him in the database.)
This woman lives in Vicksburg with her family, and was willing to take in her niece after her father's death. When this niece tells McCaslin that her aunt "took in washing," he suddenly realizes the racial nature of the "effluvium" she brings with her (278, 277). In the Yoknapatawpha fictions, the women who wash clothes are always Negroes.
Ike refers to the illegitimate child that the unnamed young woman brings into the tent only as "a child" and "that" - as in "Is that his?" (278, 277). Its gender is not specified. Swaddled in a "blanket-and-tarpaulin-wrapped bundle," its physical appearance is never described, but legally it is "black" like its mother. Since Don Boyd is its father, its last name could be his, but the story makes it clear that the white father will play no role whatsoever in any future the infant might have.
Just before the young woman enters the tent at the end of "Delta Autumn," Ike McCaslin sees, "sitting in the stern" of the boat that brought her to the camp, "a Negro man" (277). The boat is his, and he is the woman's "cousin," though unlike his, her race is not immediately apparent (278). (When Faulkner revised the story for Go Down, Moses, he made the young woman the granddaughter of James Beauchamp, and so made this family part of the extended McCaslin-Beauchamp-Edmonds family. Thus we have a separate entry in the database for this man, in that genealogical context.)
The story provides no details about the "family" of Ike McCaslin's dead wife's niece, except to say that along with her they live in Ike's "house in Jefferson" (274). (In Go Down, Moses "family" is changed to "children," making explicit what is probably meant in this text.)
During fifty weeks of the year Ike McCaslin lives in his house in Jefferson, where this woman, "his dead wife's niece," looks after him (274). (In Go Down, Moses this woman is referred to as Ike's "sister-in-law" at one point, and his "wife's niece" at another.)
